Signet "Casino Royale" Arrives

I received a new addition to my James Bond paperback collection today, a copy of "Casino Royale" published by Signet in the US.  

This is the 27th printing of this title from Signet.  This particular cover has a circular sticker on the cover promoting the 1967 comedy/spoof film version starring David Niven as 007.  The sticker reads "Now an exciting new motion picture".

I already have another copy of this Signet title with a similar sticker on the cover, however the sticker on my first copy has more of a cog wheel appearance.  It contains identical text though.  Both copies also have 007 printed in the top left corner.

There are two other versions of this cover in my collection.  The same cover with 007 printed in the top left corner sans sticker and another copy without the 007 and again without a sticker.  

If you're wondering where I purchased this latest copy it was from John F. in New Zealand who is currently selling his entire Bond book collection.  There are plenty of other great items still available too. 

Annual Yarragon Book Fair 2023

Yesterday we visited Yarragon again for the annual book fair.  As usual my wife and her parents were on board, but sadly, and for the first time, my wife's sister was absent.

Being a wet day we avoided the occasional idiot on the road to safely reach the Gippsland town in just over two hours.

The place was packed with people who had also made the same trek.

Once we reached the town hall we paid the gold coin entry fee and splt up to start our own book hunts.  My wife and her parents are avid readers, while I was searching for additions to my James Bond collection and PizGloria.com.  Small paperbacks were $1 each while trade size paperbacks and all hardbacks were $2.

Unusually this was the only Bond novel we found in the entire book fair, a copy of the continuation novel "Devil May Care" by Sebastian Faulks.  I didn't need to purchase it though as I already have several copies with the same cover.

My wife on the other hand purchased ten books for $11 while my parents-in-laws another 10 for around $10.  For a short time I felt disappointment until I visited the local bakery which bakes the best carrot cake on the planet.  I know it's a big call but I've tried many carrot cakes from around the world and none come close to their recipe.

We also had a delicious lunch at the local pub like usual.  I had a great pizza (no photo necessary) however here's a photo of my wife's lamb roast.  She said it tasted fantastic.

Another year, another Yarragon book fair.  Plenty of books purchased although no luck for me.  We will definitely return next year.

James Bond Is Everywhere

Here's a post that's a little different.  My wife and I visited a plant nursery last week, and while we were looking for a particular type of rose we discovered these three other varieties.   The first was named "For Your Eyes Only"... 

... while the second was named after Dame Judi Dench.

... and the third had a Midas touch.

Our purchase ?  Well they didn't have the specific rose we were after so we ended up purchasing this lovely Dahlia...

Annual Mornington Lions Book Fair

A year ago my wife and I attended the annual Lions Book Fair in Mornington.  And we really enjoyed the event; the books were well organised, they were great quality... and reasonably priced.  So a fortnight ago we attended the fair again along with my wife's brother.

I found several James Bond books, a couple of which I recognised from last year.

I also found this omnibus of spy novels including Ian Fleming's "The Man With The Golden Gun".  It included this still from the film featuring Christopher Lee as Scaramanga.

While looking through the "S" boxes I found this book club hardback copy of John Gardner's "Seafire".  Smaller in size than a normal hardback I wasn't even aware this copy existed and couldn't go past if for just $2.  This was my only Bond purchase for the day, however my wife and brother-in-law did find a few books for themselves.

All three of us left with some great purchases and are looking forward to attending again next year.